Heating system



C. C. WHHTAKER.

HEATING SYSTEM. APPL'ICATION FILED MAY 22. 1919.

WTNESSESI .To all whom it may concern.' l y Be it known thatI, CHARLES C. Wrnfrrnnnn, v

UNITED" STATI-:s

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES-i0. WHI'ITAKER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVAN'IA.

Application led May 22,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of AAllegheny" and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Heating Systems, of which the following'is a specification.

My invention relates to Huid-heating systems and itk has special relation -to .waterheating systems for domestic purposes, such as providing hot water for actual use or for heating rooms.

One object of my present invention. is to provide a system` of the above-indicated character in which the amount of fuel consumed is regulated in accordance with thermostatic principles yrather than being dependent upon pressure or volume considerations, as has been the case in the prior art.

Y 'More specifically stated, it is an object-of my invention to provide a fluid-heating system in which a movable element, forming a portion of the gas orl other fuel valve, is rendered responsive to' variations in the temperature ofthe fluid to vary the amount of fuel supplied.

From another aspect, it is an object of my invention to provide, in a fluid-heating system, a plurality of isolatedor non-communicating members respectively corresponding to the uid supply and to dthe heat supply, together with' an element having a., materially `different coeicient of cubicaly eXpan-l sion from such members for regulating the supply offheat-in accordance with thetemperature of the fluid.

Another object of my invention is to provide a regulating apparatus'of the above-indicated automatic character, together with means for manually adjusting the valve element to predetermine the average temperature of the fluid. i

A further object of my invention is to provide asystem of the lclass under consideration whereby the temperature of the water in the tank or reservoir may be held substantially constant A,when the heated-water is drawn oi or when the gas pressure varies,

or whenever the temperature of the water changesfor any other reason.

Other objects of my invention will become evident from the following detailed description taken in conjunction withl the `accompanyi'ng drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a view, in elevation, of a substantially com- Specicaton of Letters Patent.

HEATING SYSTEM.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.'

191er serial No. 298,859.

plete water-heating system constructed and 'arranged in accordance with my present invention, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, in longitudinal section, ofthe regulating apparatus that is preferably employed in carrying out my invention.

Referring to Fig. l, the fluid-heating system here shown comprises a water tank or reservoir 1, a heater 2, a manually-operated valve 3 for conveying gas or other suitable uid fuel to the heating system, 4an air-mixer 4 for providing the proper amount of air to insure complete combustion of the fuel, and` my automatic regulating device 5,.

The tank or reservoir 1 may be of the familiar type comprising preferably a cop- 'per incasing member 10 with which comthe like underneath which a suitable gas or other fuel burner l5 is located, the entire apparatus being inclosed Within a 'suitable casing'lG for the purpose of confining the heat from the burner to the fluid-carrying coil 14.

' A pipe or tube 17 serves'to join the burner 15 with the air-mixer 4, while other pipes 18 and 19 respectively lead out of, and into the top and the bottom of the water heater and communicate with thetank 10 and the regulating apparatus 5, respectively.'

The fuel'valve or cock 3 may be `of any suitable type and is adapted, when closed, to prevent the access of fuel from a supply pipe 20, which is suitably connected with the source of fuel supply (not shown), to a pipe -21 that leads directly into thei automatic regulating device 5.

The regulating apparatus 5, shown in section in Fig. 2, comprises a fuel-passing or conveying member 22 havinga plurality ofl arms 23 forming a frame that is detachably secured, as by a'thread, to a heatable fluidpassing or conveying memberr 24, the two members being isolated or non-communieating.' l

A. pipe or. passage 25 serves to connect the fuel-conveying member 22 to the air-mixer 4, while a pipe 26, preferably disposed in a horizontal position, is employed to join the fluid-conveying member 26 with a T-joint is governed in accordance with thermostatic principles, 'as more fully set forth later.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the fuelconveying member 22 is provided with a suitable passage or opening 29 with which the pipe 21 communicates and extending in a general horizontal direction, and is also provided with a vertically-located passage 30 into `which the pipe 25 is iitted.

The left-hand or movable nd 31 of the valve rod- 28 is pointed or conical in shape for coperating with 'a correspondinglyformed valve seat 32 through which a small aperture 33 is pierced to effect communication between the passages 29 and 30 under the illustrated conditions. However, in case the valve rod 28, while performing its regulating function, completely fills the conical recess of the valve seat, gas can still flow from the inlet passage 29 througha minimum-limt passage 34, of relatively small diameter,'to the outlet passage 30, lwhereby the burner l5 of the heater 2 may always be maintained lighted. In this way, the desired temperature may be maintained in the tank 1 While no water is being drawn ofl".

For the purpose of preventing the leakage of gas, or whatever fuel is employed, from the supply passage 29 to the atmosphere, the

movable valve rod 28 ,passes through a packing gland 35, or .the equivalent, and also through a similar packing gland 36 to prevent leakageof water or other fluid from the fluid-conveying member 24 to the atmosphere. l The movable valve rod 28 extends through the horizontal pipe 26 and the T-joint 27' and has a threaded end 37 that is inserted in a plug 38.which, in turn, lis screwed into one arm of the T-ioint 27 to produce a fluidtight connection therewith;

A lever or pin 39 is secured tothe movable valvel rod 28, intermediate r`the packing glands 35 and 36, for the purpose of atlording manual adjust-ment ofthe position of the rod 28 or, in other words, for helically moving said rod te vary its effective operatlng length.- iBy screwing the rod 28 farther intothe plug 38, the balancing temperature o f the system, that is, the average temperature of the heated Huid, will-be increased, since a greater average volume of gas will thus be allowed to flow past the cone-point .metallic members, particularly the pipe jlb.

31 of the valve rod. Conversely,l by nmnipulating the pin or lever 32 to cause the valve rod to approach the valve seat 3:2. such bal-- ancing temperature will be correr-'gmiulingly reduced.

The movable valve rod 25? if' preferably formed of brass, while the other inelosn are formed of cast or wrought iron and thus have similar thermostatirl haracteristics. rhe purpose of this dillerence in materials is to provide a positive and material difference in the thermostatie characteris- .tics and operation of the rod 28 and the inclosing members, whereby the materially different coeliicients of cubicall expansion thereof serve to render the expansion or contraction of the rod 28, whereby the gas supply is diminished or increased, relatively 'the longer the rod, the sharper the point required, and the shorter the rod, the bluntcr should be the point.

The member 24, as previously stated, may

screw-threadedly engage the arms 23 and is provided with a vertical internal passage 40, within which the pipe 1'9. is fitted, andI a horizontal passage 41 which cennnunieat'es with the horizontal pipe 26.

.As previously stated, the regulating apparatus 5 is positioned to provide a substantially horizontal location of the movable valve rod 28, whereby the most simple pipingrlayout is provided.

he operationof the illustrated apparatus may be set forth as follows:

Assuming that the burner 15 has just been lighted and that the water in the tank 10 is, therefore, cold, Isince thetemperature coelicient of expansion of brass is materially greater than that of iron, the brass valve r od,28, the greater portion of which is surrounded by eold water, will be relatively .contracted in length and, therefore, the conei point 31 will be drawn away from the valve -seat 32. In this way, the size of the opening in the heating coil 14 will be `rapidly raised to the desired temperature.

As the water in the tank 10 becomes heated, the water circulating through the pipe 26 and surrounding the brass rod 28 becomes increasingly warmer, to cause the rod to e1;- panel and. gradually restrict the size el' the opening between the cone-point 31 and the valve seat 32.- Consequently, the supply of gas is ylimited to that which is required to tions lthereof may. be effected {Without de acally provide an increased supply of fuel in accordance with the degree of vvariation of the fluid temperature. l

In this way, the movable valve rod 28 approaches or recedes from the valve seat 32 -to automatically provide just Ithe* proper amount of fuel to effect a new balance between the heat supplied to the water and lost by radiation to the heat emitted by the burner 15. v

The present regulating apparatus is also applicable to gas-fired hot-water furnaces for heating houses. In this case, whenever the temperature of the outer atmosphere decreases, a vcorresponding reduction in the house temperature occurs. Such reduction in turn will effect 4an increase in the amount of heat emitted by the radiators ina given time, andthe effect of the corresponding decrease in the temperature of the circulating water will be communicated to the regulating apparatus 5 to increase the supply and consumption of gas,thereby maintaining the house temperature 'at the desired figure,

I do not wish to be restricted to the specic structural details or arrangement" of parts herein set forth, as various modificabe heated and an isolated passaged member for fluid fuel, said members having similar co-eflicients of cubical expansion, of la valve seat in the last-named passage, a single element having a materially different co-efficient of cubical expansion extending from one passage to the other for' approaching or. receding from said valveseat responsively tothe temperature of saidfluid, means for screw-threadedly engaging one end of said element in the first-named passage, and means for helically moving said element to vary the effective operating length thereof.

2. In a fluid-heating system, the combination with an apertured member for fluid to' be heated and an apertured member for fluid fuel, one of said members having arms screw-threadedly secured to the other, of a valve seat within the last-named member, a 4regulating rod movably supported by said members and` having a pointed end alined with .said valve seat, `and a pin extending transversely through said rod between said arms, whereby said rody maybe manually caused to approach or recede from said valve seat. f, Inv testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 19th day of May, 1919.

Y cHAnLEs c. WHITTAKER- 

